Always the Avatar

Okay so I'm going to combust if I don't get this off my chest...

Via Digg; this site carries Avatar eps well beyond the ones that are currently release in the US. (Apparently the UK has the Eps released till Ep 49. Lucky bastards!)

Upon the beginning of Season 3 an article from the Animation Insider came out in review of "The Awakening". It pointed out a few things that I'm beginning to notice as a trend.
Certain storylines suddenly drop leaving the fan/viewer to wonder what had happen between on episode to the next. I don't think its that too apparent from Eps 41-45, just slightly minor since the season is just kicking off. (Though the Animation Insider pointed out several WTFs in Ep. 41, I still tilt my head at the scene between Katara and her father.)

By Ep. 45 I started to get the feeling that the story is getting rushed. Wait I take that back... In EP. 44 I'm still amazed at how quickly Uncle Iroh got ripped! Anyway... In a previous post I made mention on how the writers cramped 4 years of teen angst in to one episode (Ep. 45) Now reading around I know I'm not the only one that was surprised at the suddenness of Zuko and Mai's relationship. In season 2 we get a couple scenes where the writers hint at the pairing and the its pretty much just there from the get go of Season 3. If you saw Ep. 41 and wondered when the hell they got together, the All Avatar Mag pretty much sums it up. The scenes between Azula's group and Ang's group naturally had no connection. But given the slap stick, fighting, and Azula's wonderful teen drama it didn't really faze me. I went with the flow... But I still want to know how that vulture-like bird knew to take out that messenger hawk...

SPOILERS AHEAD! (so I highly suggest you go to this site and catch up before you read.)

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Ep. 46, pretty much see the group on their way to the meet up with the rest of the invasion. But it seemed kinda like a drop out of the sky where Roku insists that Ang go to see him. The back story though was definately interesting and we get to see how Roku passed on. The small bits between Ang and the rest of the group I could have done with out. But the real kick that had me going WTF... was where Iroh revealed to Zuko that his maternal grandfather was in fact Roku. Which in a round about way makes Ang Zuko's grandfather via reincarnation... Who the hell saw that one coming!

I have to say though the thing about Season 3 I love the most is the small detains and dialogs that are reminiscent of the past two seasons.

Ep. 47 is more Toph centric which I'm glad for since Toph has been mainly a supporting character in the previous eps. I'll just start off by saying that like Ep. 45 the resolution between Toph and her emotions in regards to her family seemed rushed. In season 2 we saw that her family hired two thugs to go and retrieve Toph after she ran away from home with the Avatar. Then towards the end of the season the thugs managed to capture her. So in Ep 47 we see her penning out and "I love and miss you" letter... I hope that doesn't resolve the fact that her parents practically kidnapped her back. If that counts...

Ep. 48... MY GOD! Kicked ass.... well at least the end did. We get to see how much more powerful Katara is and learning against her will "Bloodbending".

Ep. 49 To me was just a filler, I was hoping to see a fall out from Katara's new ability from the last episode since is upset her so much. The big plus tho... is The Kiss.

Can't wait to see the Invasion! w00t!